The present invention relates to hanging apparatus for slack fiber optic cable and, more particularly, to an xe2x80x9cHxe2x80x9d-shaped bracket for maintaining a coil of spare fiber in an enclosed location, such as a manhole.
During installation of fiber optic cable routes, the fiber cables are installed in reel lengths that range from 10,000 feet to over 16,000 feet. At the termination of these reel lengths along the cable right of way, the fiber cables need to be spliced together to maintain continuity of the signals propagating along the individual fibers. Extra length of fiber cable is usually left at the ends of the fiber cables to allow enough of the cable to be maneuvered and is used to splice the two ends together. In most casts, 25 to 30 feet of spare cable is left at this splice location. At these points, most communication companies it will install a manhole that will house the extra length of fiber cable, as well as the fiber splice. The extra cable length will thus be available for future splicing operations, if required, and there is usually enough cable length for moving the splice out of the ground and into a vehicle during any future repair operations or tests.
Once the cable splice has been made, the extra length of fiber must be dealt with and is usually wound into a coil and placed in the manhole for safe keeping. However, problems have been found to arise when the cable is dug up by heavy excavating equipment along the cable path and the extra cable is pulled from the manholes on each side of the damaged cable site. In most cases, the slack extra cable that is left coiled up in the manhole will be pulled down the conduit used for the in-place fiber cable path, and will tend to kink as it enters the conduit, damaging the fiber cable and delaying the repair process.
Thus, a need remains in the art for an arrangement for storing spare fiber optic cable in a manhole location that will prevent the cable from kinking and blocking the conduit as it is pulled through.
The need remaining in the prior art is addressed by the present invention, which relates to hanging apparatus for slack fiber optic cable and, more particularly, to an xe2x80x9cHxe2x80x9d-shaped bracket for maintaining a coil of spare fiber in an enclosed location, such as a manhole.
In accordance with the present invention, the cable hanging bracket includes a pair of parallel, spaced-apart cross arms and a center post which may be attached to the floor of the manhole (or other cable-storing location). The extra fiber cable is then loosely wound around the cross arms, one arm extending toward each conduit exiting the manhole. Later, when the need arises to pull the extra fiber through the conduit (during a splice or other repair operation, for example), the raised loosely coiled fiber will easily unwind from one of the cross arms on the bracket and travel unimpeded along the conduit, thus avoiding the kinking problem of the prior art. The fiber cable may also be covered with a break-away plastic duct to further support the cable as it is drawn through the conduit.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hanging bracket comprises an angle iron constructed out of a heavy gauge steel, so as to be able to easily support the weight of (approximately) 50 feet of spare fiber optic cable. The bracket may comprise an xe2x80x9cHxe2x80x9d-shaped pair of cross arms for one side of the angle iron, the remaining leg of the angle iron extending downward to the floor of the manhole (or other cable storing area).